Dreamland (Happy Lantern Festival)

Su Yu didn't feel too disappointed about not finding a suitable acceleration method at the library.

If it were that common, the academy wouldn't have failed to mention it.

He had just held onto a sliver of hope, but as it turned out, he was overthinking things. Since that was the case, he could only continue to diligently cultivate the Kaiyuan Jue.

He ate lunch at the academy, and when he returned home that evening, the quiet house made Su Yu fall silent for a moment.

With his father gone, the house instantly felt desolate.

In the past, his father would have meals ready for him when he returned from the academy. Now, the emptiness made Su Yu feel a little unaccustomed.

Not in the mood to cook, Su Yu leaned back on the sofa and turned on the TV, letting his mind wander as the sound of the television served as background music.

Nowadays, you couldn't find many channels on TV.

In Great Xia Prefecture, you could at most find the Great Xia television station and a few local channels.

Affected by the All Heavens Battlefield and several other battlefields, signal coverage was poor and transmission was difficult, so each prefecture could generally only receive its own channels.

"Recently, the Ten Thousand Races Cult has been spotted in Great Xia Prefecture. If citizens of Great Xia Prefecture discover any suspicious individuals, please report them to the local Wind Suppression Hall immediately..."

"Scum!"

Hearing the report on TV, Su Yu couldn't help but curse under his breath.

A bunch of scum!

When the War of the Heavens broke out, humanity managed to hold back the enemy races, but humanity wasn't particularly strong among the myriad races. Some scum inevitably got other ideas during this time and chose to defect to other races.

The Ten Thousand Races Cult wasn't a single sect, but many, composed of scum who defected to different races.

These people gathered together, causing chaos within humanity.

Influenced by his father since childhood, Su Yu deeply detested this kind of scum.

He glanced up at the TV. At that moment, a middle-aged man with a stern, imposing face, dressed in a red battle robe, appeared on the screen.

The middle-aged man's expression was cold, his tone chilling. He shouted, "Slay!"

"Pfft!"

The next moment, on the TV screen, over a hundred people knelt on the ground, with a group of armored guards standing behind them. They drew their swords and struck, instantly severing over a hundred heads!

"Members of the Ten Thousand Races Cult, catch one, kill one!"

The middle-aged man was incredibly stern, his gaze fixed forward as if he were about to step out of the TV screen. He said coldly, "Come to Great Xia Prefecture, and you will only meet death! From today onwards, the Dragon Martial Guard will patrol Great Xia Prefecture. Scum of the Ten Thousand Races Cult, if you're not afraid of death, don't leave Great Xia Prefecture. Let's see how many dog heads you scum can have chopped off!"

On the sofa, Su Yu suddenly felt a surge of excitement.

Xia Longwu!

The Prefecture Lord of Great Xia Prefecture!

As for the beheading, he didn't pay much attention to it. Everyone was used to it. Such scenes often appeared on TV. The only method humanity had against the members of the Ten Thousand Races Cult was to behead them if caught. This policy was extremely iron-fisted, ensuring no one dared to betray them again.

Public executions were meant to deter everyone and make some people abandon such thoughts.

Su Yu didn't focus on this; what mattered more to him was Xia Longwu.

This Prefecture Lord of Great Xia Prefecture was extremely powerful and formidable.

Twenty years ago, this Prefecture Lord had commanded the Demon Suppression Army on the All Heavens Battlefield, which was his father's unit, making him his father's direct superior.

Every time Su Long saw Xia Longwu appear over the years, he would be incredibly excited. He would drag Su Yu along, point at the TV, and say, "This is my old commander. Back in the War of the Heavens, he swept across all directions, invincible, making the armies of the myriad races flee in disarray..."

Over time, even Su Yu was somewhat influenced, developing a degree of admiration for this powerhouse who had carved a bloody path on the Myriad Heavens Battlefield.

"When can I... become as strong as Prefecture Lord Xia..."

Su Yu felt a small flicker of longing.

This was a true powerhouse. None of the current prefecture lords were weak.

However, Xia Longwu was among the top-tier prefecture lords. The key wasn't that; Su Yu didn't know who the strongest prefecture lord was. He only knew that Xia Longwu wasn't very old, only in his sixties.

And other prefecture lords, like the powerful Zhou Potian of Great Zhou Prefecture, were figures from the early Anping calendar, meaning they were over three hundred years old.

Twenty years ago, Xia Longwu was only in his forties, yet he commanded the Demon Suppression Army. This was what Su Yu envied.

Truly strong!

Only in his forties, he was very, very young in this era.

What kind of strength was required to command the Demon Suppression Army?

Su Yu didn't know, but he knew it had to be incredibly formidable. This wasn't something achievable just because his grandfather was the Great Xia King. Some prefecture lords were even the direct sons of founding kings, yet they weren't as formidable.

"Xia Longwu..."

"Dragon Martial War College!"

"Dragon Martial Guard!"

Su Yu licked his lips, his mouth feeling a little dry. After all, he was still young, and who hadn't felt a surge of youthful passion?

Hadn't he ever thought about applying to a war college?

He definitely thought about it!

Great Xia Prefecture has several higher war colleges, among which the Great Xia War College, with over three hundred years of history, is the oldest and most powerful in Great Xia Prefecture.

However, Great Xia Prefecture now also has a top-tier war college.

The Dragon Martial War College!

Named after Xia Longwu himself, this war college was founded 15 years ago, and in just 15 years, it has become one of the top institutions in Great Xia Prefecture.

Most of its graduates have joined the strongest military division in Great Xia Prefecture – the Dragon Martial Guard!

It is said that the City Lord of Nanyuan City actually came from the Dragon Martial Guard, which speaks volumes.

Although his father, Su Long, came from the Demon Suppression Army, after retiring, he wanted to join the Dragon Martial Guard and continue to follow his old commander. Unfortunately... the Dragon Martial Guard wouldn't accept him.

He was a bit too old and a bit too weak, so they didn't accept Su Long.

Su Long was furious and cursed quite a bit, though not at Xia Longwu, but at the recruiters. Why wouldn't they accept him?

It is rumored that Nanyuan City is currently guarded by a small team of Dragon Martial Guards, but whether it's true or not, Su Yu hasn't seen them.

"Great Xia War College, Dragon Martial War College... The Great Xia War College mainly provides personnel for the front lines, and it's difficult for them to return. But the Dragon Martial Guard..."

Su Yu's eyes flickered. The Dragon Martial War College was different; it primarily served as a reserve for the Dragon Martial Guard.

People from the Dragon Martial War College also went to the front lines, with similar treatment to other war colleges. However, the Dragon Martial Guard had an advantage: their main mission was to defend the homeland, meaning they could stay in Great Xia Prefecture for most of the time.

Of course, once a major war broke out, the Dragon Martial Guard, as an elite division, would be the first to be deployed to the myriad battlefields.

If the Demon Suppression Army was the standing army on the myriad battlefields, then the Dragon Martial Guard was the field army.

"Fewer restrictions, more freedom, but when war breaks out, they face the most dangerous assault and counter-attack battles..."

"If I really wanted to enroll in a war college, I should actually go to the Dragon Martial War College."

Su Yu muttered to himself. Unfortunately, the Dragon Martial War College was actually harder to get into.

Because it served as a reserve for the Dragon Martial Guard, the strength requirements were even slightly higher than those of the Great Xia War College.

He rubbed his cheeks, Su Yu gave a wry smile. He was just dreaming.

Even ordinary war colleges were difficult, let alone the Dragon Martial ones.

Why think so much!

"The Ten Thousand Races Cult dares to trespass into Great Xia Prefecture's territory. They're asking for death! The Dragon Martial Guard has been deployed. I wonder if we'll see them in Nanyuan..."

Su Yu wasn't too worried. The members of the Ten Thousand Races Cult were shady and didn't dare to show their faces.

They only dared to engage in petty actions in secret. Now that the Dragon Martial Guard was patrolling Great Xia Prefecture, these guys were hiding deeper than rats and wouldn't dare to show themselves.

If they did show up, Su Yu wouldn't be afraid.

Nowadays, it was almost a case of everyone being a soldier. While there were no experts in the Myriad Stone realm in the residential complex, there were still quite a few cultivators in the Thousand Jun realm.

Besides veterans like his father who had returned, there were a few others who hadn't returned, as well as some older veterans who were past their prime.

If a few Thousand Jun realm cultists from the Ten Thousand Races Cult showed up, they would be coming to their deaths.

Those old men who had retired from the battlefield were all ruthless characters whose hands were stained with blood, and they wouldn't hesitate to kill.

With just a shout, seven or eight Thousand Jun realm cultivators could appear at any time.

After watching television, he casually made some noodles to satisfy his hunger, washed up, practiced the Kaiyuan Jue several times, and then went to bed early.

If he didn't sleep early, he would wake up early from his dreams, and his sleep wouldn't be sufficient.

Su Yu now understood a bit; his dreams usually occurred in the early morning. Before dawn was the best time for him to sleep, so he had to cherish that time.

Night.

Pitch black.

In his dream.

A scene he had repeated countless times unfolded again.

An incredibly huge bird of prey was chasing Su Yu.

"Damn it!"

Su Yu hated avian races the most. They were incredibly fast, and he couldn't escape.

In the past, when he encountered ground monsters, it was fine; sometimes, he even had a chance to escape without being caught and devoured by the monsters.

But when he encountered flying monsters, he never escaped. Each time, he was chewed into pieces and woke up in pain from his dream.

He hated these flying creatures!

This time was no exception. The giant bird of prey was extremely fast, and the terrain obstacles in his dream had no effect on it. The distance between them was closing.

As Su Yu ran at full speed, he turned his head to look.

He wanted to identify if he recognized this bird of prey.

"Hm?"

Glancing around, there were many bird-like species. Su Yu only knew about a dozen or so, but this time... he felt a sense of familiarity!

Although the other party was very illusory, he could vaguely see a fleshy growth on its huge head.

"This is... the Iron Winged Bird clan!"

"Holy crap, after so many years, I've finally encountered a familiar one!"

Su Yu felt a little excited at this moment. Just because he knew eighteen languages of the myriad races didn't mean he had encountered all these species. Even in his dreams, he hadn't really encountered them; he only felt a vague familiarity. He had learned them because someone at Nanyuan Middle School knew these languages.

As for the Iron Winged Bird clan, although he hadn't encountered them before, he knew their language! It was one of the eighteen languages he had mastered. Someone at Nanyuan Academy knew it too because in the myriad realms' battlefields, these bird-like races were often used by powerful races like the gods and demons as aerial cavalry.

Su Yu quickly turned his head and shouted, "Why are you chasing me?"

The giant bird did not respond, as if it couldn't hear him at all, and continued to charge forward.

"We are friends!"

There was still no reply.

Su Yu cursed inwardly. Seeing the giant bird bare its claws and dive towards him, he knew he was going to die again. This was most likely an Iron Winged Bird, but it seemed to have no intelligence; it was just an illusion in his dream.

"Crack!"

As expected, intense pain shot through his head. Su Yu's head was instantly blown apart, and the illusory figure in his dream gradually dissipated. Su Yu knew he was about to wake up! He would wake up from the pain!

However, at that very moment, the giant Iron Winged Bird, the instant it shattered Su Yu's head, suddenly let out a sharp cry.

"Moonlight!"

Su Yu was slightly stunned. The next moment, Su Yu jolted awake, drenched in sweat.

"Moonlight... no, not moonlight, it's blood!"

Su Yu's eyes widened. He had heard it. The Iron Winged Bird had killed him, but it seemed to be very angry, as if it hadn't obtained what it wanted by killing him.

"Blood!"

"It killed me for blood, for my blood!"

This was the language of the Iron Winged Bird clan, so Su Yu understood. He had had similar experiences before, but he hadn't understood them then because those monsters were outside his familiar range. This time, he understood!

"Blood!"

"The other party wants blood, what does that mean?"

"My blood? But I get injured sometimes and bleed, and there's no reaction. What does it really mean?"

Su Yu's head throbbed. He ignored the nightmare he had just had and his mind began to race.

"It needs blood, but killing me in the dream doesn't provide it. My blood doesn't seem to work either. Could it be... it must be the blood of its own kind?"

"Iron Winged Bird blood?"

"What would happen if I had Iron Winged Bird blood?"

"A dream is just a dream. Even if I had it, could it be brought into the dream?"

Su Yu rubbed his temples, his hands covered in sweat. He couldn't bother with these details anymore. This dream... seemed to be becoming clearer. For the first time in many years, he felt that the dream could be resolved. His study of the myriad races' languages had not been in vain. Even if he only heard one sentence today, it was enough.

"No, I have to try. No matter what, I have to try. What changes will occur if I have Iron Winged Bird blood? Also, this dream is over. Tomorrow, it probably won't be an Iron Winged Bird anymore. Will Iron Winged Bird blood still be useful?"

"I don't care anymore!"

Su Yu sat up abruptly. He had made up his mind. He had to try. He had been chased and killed in his dreams for so many years, and he was tired of it, fed up with it. This dream had to be resolved as soon as possible. Otherwise, carrying this burden, no one would be comfortable being killed every day.

"When it's dawn, I'll go check the Xia family's business. They sell everything. They might have Iron Winged Bird blood. After all, Iron Winged Birds are quite common in the myriad realms' battlefields. Maybe I can buy some!"

Having made up his mind, Su Yu lost all desire to sleep. He eagerly awaited the dawn so he could go buy Iron Winged Bird blood. Even if there was only a slim chance of resolving the dream, it would be good. He was truly sick of this kind of life; it was too exhausting.

PS: The next update will be at 6 PM. During the new book period, there will be two updates daily, one at 11 AM and another at 6 PM. The time in between is for timely adjustments to the chapter content (simply put, corrections based on reader feedback. I hope everyone will actively comment; I read them every day).